[kingdom]

Harden can blame CP3 all he wants... he hasn't shown me sh#$ every single year in the playoffs. Harden is just another regular season dude.... take your MAX DEAL... and let the big boys play in the playoffs. Worst deal in sports is CP3's contract... why in the hell did OKC want it??? Was Westbrook going to hold out??? No way.

they are hoping to flip the paul contract. miami only buyer. if not they went from 171 to 124mil worst case scenario. i feel strongly miami wants another player with east open and will go after paul.

[kingdom]

Yeah I know they had a confrontation directly after they lost but that's just heat of the moment stuff, can you really expect two high level competitors to not react like that? It was most of the other stuff that was made up like how they didn't talk to each other for 2 months. Everything else was pretty much shot down by teammates or writers close to the team.

i don't think harden liked playing with cp. he would just sit in the corner when he had the ball and not even attempt to assist. seems he wanted cp to fail when he had the ball. even in the playoffs which is just ridiculous.

[2daBank]

i don't think harden liked playing with cp. he would just sit in the corner when he had the ball and not even attempt to assist. seems he wanted cp to fail when he had the ball. even in the playoffs which is just ridiculous.

He a douche bag and winning never been priority 1 for the bearded clown.

[thomorino]

Harden and Paul worked the first year, the Rockets would likely have won the title 2 years ago if not for the Warriors super team, Houston would have rolled the Lebron Cavs team 2 years ago. Last year when Houston was dealing with a lot of injuries Harden started scoring 50 almost every game and he seemed to like the media attention he got, when the roster got healthy Harden didn't want to start passing and his selfish style of basketball prevented the team from being good enough to win anything in the playoffs. Dantoni obviously stopped coach last year and making the ball move too. You'd think after last year that we'll see an offense with more ball movement like 2 years ago again, and Harden needs to play with a guy who wants the ball in big moments like Westbrook since he blows in those times.

[kingdom]

He a douche bag and winning never been priority 1 for the bearded clown.

it was funny i watched chauncey billups talk about carmelo in denver, saying that he was in better spirits when he scored 35 than when the team won and he scored 20. being in florida i watched T-mac smile and grin after scoring 47 in a 20 point loss describing how he was in the zone and couldn't be stopped. became my least respected player after that. some guys are in it for the cash and personal accomplishments.
I watched russ the season after kd left and anyone saying he doesn't care about winning is silly. he is an imperfect player, but he leaves it on the court everynight trying to win.

[sosawestbrook]

Harden and Paul worked the first year, the Rockets would likely have won the title 2 years ago if not for the Warriors super team, Houston would have rolled the Lebron Cavs team 2 years ago. Last year when Houston was dealing with a lot of injuries Harden started scoring 50 almost every game and he seemed to like the media attention he got, when the roster got healthy Harden didn't want to start passing and his selfish style of basketball prevented the team from being good enough to win anything in the playoffs. Dantoni obviously stopped coach last year and making the ball move too. You'd think after last year that we'll see an offense with more ball movement like 2 years ago again, and Harden needs to play with a guy who wants the ball in big moments like Westbrook since he blows in those times.

Paul fell off to me. I think the injuries finally got to him. Harden was playing superman too much I agree. but the front office didn't really help surround him with a better team last year. they pretty much run it back. there was some frustration with that im sure.

[thomorino]

Paul fell off to me. I think the injuries finally got to him. Harden was playing superman too much I agree. but the front office didn't really help surround him with a better team last year. they pretty much run it back. there was some frustration with that im sure.

I agree, Paul didn't look like the same player, I don't think it was an accident he looked much better in his contract year and then got lazy after he got his 180 million.

[ThaTopMoron]

Houston players aren't trained to play the game to help Russ secure his triple doubles and Harden is a ball hog

I say Westbrick averages 6.7 rebounds per game...

Rockets lose in 1st round

[thetrinity]

Seeing a lot of buyout talk for Paul. 124 million left? Can’t see that happening

[jtoler]

was bound to happen a true point guard playing with scorer who wants to make the decisions most of the time not gonna work, paul is way too passionate of a person to have kept putting up with that but he should have been smarter to know in the first place that he wasnt going to have the ball in his hands running the show. somehow he was still able to average 8 assists a game playing with harden

[Plaza23]

Great deal for the Rockets. Terrible deal for the Thunder. Thunder take back the worst contract in the NBA, and the Rockets get one of the best players in the NBA still in his prime. All they had to give up are draft picks that will mean nothing.

Thunder drafted Durant, Westbrook, Harden. 0 titles.

Durant left in free agency. Thunder got nothing.
Trade Harden for Kevin Martin.
Trade Westbrook for Chris Paul.

What a waste of assets

[JIBBBY]

Great deal for the Rockets. Terrible deal for the Thunder. Thunder take back the worst contract in the NBA, and the Rockets get one of the best players in the NBA still in his prime. All they had to give up are draft picks that will mean nothing.

Thunder drafted Durant, Westbrook, Harden. 0 titles.

Durant left in free agency. Thunder got nothing.
Trade Harden for Kevin Martin.
Trade Westbrook for Chris Paul.

What a waste of assets

Paul George walked too.. OKC has a ton of 1st round picks coming up in the future though. They are in rebuilding mode now. Give OKC 3 years, they'll have a good young team one day. Couple vets with Adams and Paul now. They may still play above .500 ball even next year. OKC bench still intact...

[thetrinity]

If Oklahoma City somehow gets stuck with Paul (unlikely)

they save 47 mil and a year from westbrooks deal

also add a few draft picks

in that sense its a win since they were doing nothing with either anyways

OKC is not a FA destination so they have to hit homeruns in the draft

Presti screwed up the harden trade, but other than that, he's been pretty flawless

[thomorino]

If Oklahoma City somehow gets stuck with Paul (unlikely)

they save 47 mil and a year from westbrooks deal

also add a few draft picks

in that sense its a win since they were doing nothing with either anyways

OKC is not a FA destination so they have to hit homeruns in the draft

Presti screwed up the harden trade, but other than that, he's been pretty flawless

Presti is trash, he traded Harden and got zero, he surrounded Durant and Westbrook with a garbage team that couldn't win anything after Harden left. He traded for Perkins who never fit, he traded for Lopez and Kanter, who play no defense. The signing of Oladipo was a disaster as well. He's the most overrated GM in sports, he managed to win nothing with Harden, Westbrook, and Durant, and in addition to getting nothing for Harden he also chose Ibaka over Harden.

[eidolon]

Houston will break the record for most turnovers by a team.

[sourtwist]

lol. Ppl still praise Houston gm? He just throws shit to a wall and hopes it works. Genius! Lol

Fill seats man

This is a business and only 1 team can win per year

[JIBBBY]

Houston has to considered another odds on favorite to win it all now. If the chemistry is still there and works you gotta think both players have only gotten better since they played together in OKC.. Harden especially.

I'm curious to see how good this team could be????

[asiagambler]

Houston has to considered another odds on favorite to win it all now. If the chemistry is still there and works you gotta think both players have only gotten better since they played together in OKC.. Harden especially.

I'm curious to see how good this team could be????

Odds on favourite means favoured over the field. So there can only be at most one odds on favourite and nobody is close to that this year.

[shadymcgrady]

Game of zones on bleacher report is going to have a field day with these phony MVPs

[Grits n' Gravy]

Houston upgraded. It will take some growing pains for Russ and Harden to figure things out but it will be fun to watch.

Paul’s poor conditioning has caught up to him over the past handful of seasons. He comes in overweight and tries to play himself into shape. That doesn’t work so well in 30s. Thunder will certainly move him. Have to figure out how he ends up a Laker.

[gauchojake]

If Paul ends up a Laker I'm done.

[shadymcgrady]

If westbrick steals the ball from harden does that count as a steal in the stats?

I just hope I get to see it when it happens this year

[Snowball]

Harden's all time stats just went straight downhill and he knows it.

[packerd_00]

You do need players that arent afraid to share the wealth, well see how this combo works out. Harden and Westbrook havent played together for a number of years,but they do atleast have some experience as teammates.

[jjgold]

The rockets are a threat

[JIBBBY]

Odds on favourite means favoured over the field. So there can only be at most one odds on favourite and nobody is close to that this year.

Yes I know.. Just wasn't thinking when I was typing that out while waking up this morning.

[DavidGoliath5003]

Russle averaged 91.2 touches last season #1/Game
Harden Averaged 87.5 touches last season #2/Game

should be an interesting year.

[Yulia74]

Best of NBA 2018: Chris Paul

https://twitter.com/i/status/1149739473174958080

[Sledge187]

lol. Ppl still praise Houston gm? He just throws shit to a wall and hopes it works. Genius! Lol

He should take advice from a winner like yourself. Keep up the great takes!

[Sledge187]

Terrible for the Rockets Westbrook and Harden are two guys that will probably never win a title but at least they got rid of Chris Paul who is getting older. OKC will be rebuild fast with all the picks they got for George and Westbrook imo.

All those Top 10 lottery protected 1st round picks should really payoff soon! So many great superstars are drafted late in the 1st round. Another great post! #championship.

[kingdom]

If Oklahoma City somehow gets stuck with Paul (unlikely)

they save 47 mil and a year from westbrooks deal

also add a few draft picks

in that sense its a win since they were doing nothing with either anyways

OKC is not a FA destination so they have to hit homeruns in the draft

Presti screwed up the harden trade, but other than that, he's been pretty flawless

flawless lol. have you seen his coaching hires? and the harden trade was sort of a big deal. kevin martin lol. the one undeniable thing is his draft choices. the best there is at identifying talent. not just the big 3, but adams, kanter, ibaka, grant, even roberson.

[Big Bear]

Championship baby!

maybe so

[Mr KLC]

Last summer’s trade that sent Chris Paul to the Thunder for Russell Westbrook was driven by the dismay Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta had over Paul’s contract, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the latest edition of The Lowe Post podcast.

Reflecting on Daryl Morey’s tenure in Houston, MacMahon said Fertitta and James Harden were more insistent on the deal than the team’s former general manager. Harden had clashed with Paul during their final season as teammates, and Fertitta believed Paul’s contract “was the worst that he’d ever seen in business or sports,” according to MacMahon.

MacMahon emphasizes that Morey didn’t openly object to making the trade, but was compelled to act because of the wishes of his “two bosses,” Fertitta and Harden. He adds that many people in the Rockets’ organization believe the relationship between Paul and Harden could have been salvaged if Westbrook hadn’t been available.